Spencer gets the best out of Kiyoshi

Kiyoshi proved her considerable talents remain very much intact with a brilliant victory under the soon-to-retire Jamie Spencer in the Japan Racing Association Sceptre Stakes at Doncaster yesterday.

The Charlie Hills-trained three-year-old looked a potential world-beater following a jaw-dropping display in last year’s Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot and subsequent placed efforts in the Moyglare and Cheveley Park Stakes meant connections headed into the winter with realistic ambitions of Classic glory.

But the dream was short-lived, with an early-season illness meaning she did not return until the Coronation Stakes in June.